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Aug 2020 · 513
Garden variety privilege
LLillis Aug 2020
The morning glory
Suffocates the cucumbers.
But we don’t trim them.
We tried some basic vegetables in our first ever backyard garden box. The cucumbers had promise until the morning glory quickly took over. The flowers are pretty so we let them, without much consideration towards the loss of potential food. Now, taking time to reflect on the loss I am thankful for the ability to make that choice. To prioritize esthetics over nutrition, frivolity over necessity is truly the mark of privilege and should be at very least noted; and at best worked at to equalize.
Aug 2020 · 292
A Contrasting Nature
LLillis Aug 2020
The green shades of spring,
Have not intimidated
The purple maple.
One young purple maple stands in my yard against an older more established background of countless greens. It seems as unperturbed as it should be, being a tree. But I find celebrating the differences, the contrasts, in all things to be worthwhile. What use is only ever seeing green?
Jul 2020 · 374
Big Pizza Fan
LLillis Jul 2020
The dough spins above,
Launched from floured hands, they wait.
Curse that ceiling fan.
Pizza making is a lot of fun. Except when you underestimate exactly how high you can toss a dough.
...at least it’s spinning!
Jul 2020 · 162
Polar opposites.
LLillis Jul 2020
Summer heat burns grass
The same colour as the frost.
Withered in extremes.
There is a balance our seasons are missing. New records in the winter, new records in the summer, fewer days of spring and fall. The result is the same.
Jun 2020 · 206
Missing a hot meal
LLillis Jun 2020
The black fly escapes -
The snapping dog too lazy
to fight in the heat.
Watching the seemingly endless battle of dog vs fly. Each trying to bite each other, each growing wearier in the heavy humid air.
Jun 2020 · 220
Black Lives Matter
LLillis Jun 2020
Black clouds rage nearby.
Concussive flashes thunder.
Milk and tears rain down.
Unrest abounds. Not much more than that needs to be said other than Black Lives Matter and support those in need.
May 2020 · 394
Chirping obscenities
LLillis May 2020
I find “the morning”
to be subjective- despite
what the birds may say.
Late nights means hopefully late mornings. The heat brings open windows and loud birds. They would like me to know it’s time to start the day. I would like them to know I hope there is an outdoor cat nearby.
LLillis May 2020
Mid-day streetlights glow
bright against the darkened sky,
Children scatter home.
A heavy spring storm rolled over my suburban area today. A genuinely nice day filled with barbecues and lawnmowers got so dark the streetlights came on, it gave everything a grey-orange glow as everyone packed up what they were doing around their homes and ran to avoid the coming downpour.
Apr 2020 · 276
Netflix and Chilled.
LLillis Apr 2020
Spring snow chills the mind,
Environmental measured
Social distancing.
Stay home! The weather certainly helps. Less folks out looking at the new blossoms, more room for nature to do her thing unimpeded.
Apr 2020 · 283
Turned Tables
LLillis Apr 2020
Cautiously stepping,
The deer samples the new grass.
We look on wistful.
We saw some deer cautiously hanging out on the side of a road. Clearly confused about the lack of people and cars they kept alert while munching on the fresh spring sprouts of grass. We watched in isolation through our window and chuckled that we are the ones in the zoo now.
Apr 2020 · 132
Rain Drum
LLillis Apr 2020
A silent free fall,
Quiet through the cloud and wind,
Clang! - don’t build tin roofs.
Sitting under a tin roof porch it occurred to me how far a drop of rain would silently fall until finally and violently coming to rest in possibly the loudest way possible. Each drop a tiny missile destined to break what would otherwise be a very peaceful patter of rain.
Dec 2019 · 241
Solstice kaleidoscope
LLillis Dec 2019
Coloured lights brighten
the shortest day’s dreary night.
A dazzling glare.
I have always loved the excess of light around the solstice. We make the darkest and longest night of the year one of the brightest by lighting up our homes and streets with colour and wreathes, reminding us that starting now every day will be a little longer and a little brighter. I was particularly stuck by how the lights reflected off the wet ground creating a kaleidoscope of icy colour.
Dec 2019 · 633
Trafficking Weariness.
LLillis Dec 2019
Rows of angry red
eyes stretch endlessly onward.
Morning “rush hour”.
It occurred to me one morning staring at a seemingly endless line of brake lights that everyone else in this increasingly frustrating line was just as tired and miserable as I am. Tthe age old adage of seeing red ironically applies to tail lights especially when lit up to indicate the constant braking of traffic.
Nov 2019 · 11.3k
Too cold to breathe.
LLillis Nov 2019
The coldest night air
Seems no different than the
Space around the stars.
The mercury is dropping faster then we expected. It’s not quite polar vortex weather yet but the dry air and static warns of its approach.
Nov 2019 · 377
Snow Day Eve
LLillis Nov 2019
Chaos slowly builds
on a bell that will not ring.
Children wait. Hopeful.
Winter showed up in force today with our first mild snow storm. The first significant snowfall is always a trying time in Toronto. Endless sirens, plows, shoveling, and salt. The lingering memories of what a snow day use to mean and the harsh juxtaposition of adulthood leaves me just as bitter as the cold.
Nov 2019 · 815
Frost Alarm
LLillis Nov 2019
Green leaves lay surprised
Hurried out so frostily–
With no chance to change!
The first snow hit Toronto and many of the trees weren’t prepared for it. A thick blanket of green leaves dotted with ice now covers most of the parks and lawns. It reminded me of being rushed out by a fire alarm in the middle of the night.
Nov 2019 · 778
Halloween Afterparty
LLillis Nov 2019
Erratic squirrels
Irresponsibly consume
Fermenting pumpkins.
Nov 2019 · 527
Cold Front
LLillis Nov 2019
Trembling walls groan.
The roaring arrival of
winters bitter scorn.
Oct 2019 · 257
Independent Autumnomy
LLillis Oct 2019
The certainty of
an all orange tree amongst
Defiant green peers.
Oct 2019 · 840
Contemplative whisky
LLillis Oct 2019
Amber fire cooled
Smooth over water hardened
To soften the burn.
Aug 2019 · 721
Amazon Fire
LLillis Aug 2019
Epitomizing
smoldering canopies,
rampant greed did this.
Aug 2019 · 596
Summer Whine
LLillis Aug 2019
Cool air undermines
the aphid’s loud assertion
Summer will not end.
May 2019 · 167
Frozen fields on the rocks.
LLillis May 2019
The rye beat the snow,
To finally be bested,
By ice and a glass.
Jan 2018 · 531
Fetching Irony
LLillis Jan 2018
A thrown dead stick stuck
In the tree. While I ponder,
The dog is dismayed.
Jan 2018 · 524
Melting
LLillis Jan 2018
Receding snow drifts,
Time capsules of gloves and trash.
Treasure for the spring.
Dec 2017 · 522
Horizon
LLillis Dec 2017
Endless starry skies.
Stretched black velvet mantled/
On a gentle hill.
Dec 2017 · 430
Holiday Shopping
LLillis Dec 2017
Salt streaked blacktop cage,
defining your future plight.
Dear... must we go in?
Dec 2017 · 1.1k
The loneliest herd
LLillis Dec 2017
Eight billion people,
call this planet home.
Eight billion people,
all of them alone.

Arbitrary borders,
divide and define.
Who belongs where,
who's on which side.

Propaganda and lies,
hatred and fear,
accompany those borders.
"You're not 'From Here'".

They shout and they rant,
"Protect us from harm!
Protect us from monsters!
who work on our farms..."

Save us from humans!
That are really just the same,
but they look a little different,
or have a "funny name".

Every human is flawed,
We dig our own graves,
Eight Billion people,
Who do not want to be saved.

We have come so far,
but we have to do more,
to be better than primates,
looking for war.

Eight billion minds,
That think only of one.
And how they can prosper,
alone in their fun.

Religion and Government,
forms of control.
That tell you to fight,
for country and soul.

The heathens that march,
against the life that you made,
must be destroyed!
It's the only way!

Build us our bombs,
our weapons in space,
expand our borders,
war is a race!

Money and lead,
power and greed,
These are the things,
we are taught to need.

Complicated desires,
from animalistic wants,
pollute the whole planet,
by "draining the swamp".

We call ourselves modern,
With our dollars and glass,
but our future is as dismal,
as our most recent past.

A species divided,
is one doomed to fail.
And there's so much to lose,
with a world this frail.

Are we together?
Or alone in a crowd.
A decision must be made.
and it has to be now.
Dec 2017 · 446
Startled
LLillis Dec 2017
Crisp white crunchy snow.
A silently falling haze.
Snapped twigs/ birds take flight
LLillis Dec 2017
A tight hand grasping my spine,
Crushing my lungs and stretching time.
A heavy weight compressing my chest.
Nightmare’s perch, her chosen nest.

Sleepless nights with jaw clenched tight,
Grinding teeth and knuckles white.
A silent night unless you strain,
Is that noise real or just my brain?

Am I broken or just afraid?
Scared of the night, before the day.
Must I sleep to find success?
I wonder as I fail to rest.  

I suffer in silence I cannot find,
The constant noise of a restless mind.
Internal, external, I am not sure.
All I know is this constant stir.  

As I try to sleep and listen close,
I force my ears not to host.
The last few sounds of the ending day,
and those near by that would have it stay.

— The End —